the mechanical behaviour of rockfill materials and aggregates depends not only on particle size and compaction, but also on their strength and lithological properties. in this research two types of large triaxial and direct shear tests are performed on rockfill materials. this paper compares the stress-strain behaviour of sandstone and andesibasalt materials in triaxial compression tests (3006...

Details of Earth’s shallow subsurface—a key component of the critical zone (CZ)—are largely obscured because making direct observations with sufficient density to capture natural characteristic spatial variability in physical properties is difficult. Yet this inaccessible region of the CZ is fundamental to processes that support ecosystems, society, and the environment. Geophysical methods prov...

As a part of a broader study of the surface formations in maritime Antarctica, a preliminary survey on the content of radionuclides has been carried out in soils of Byers Peninsula, located in the western end of Livingston Island, South Shetland Islands. Data on natural and artificial radionuclides are very scarce in Antarctica and the studied soil samples can be representative of the maritime ...

In this paper, a set of physical, geochemical and mineralogical indicators are proposed for the correlation of soil age. The parameters studied allowed the highlighting of trends in soil aging as well as the relating of these trends to specific soil forming processes. Soil aging was marked by a progressive increase in clay content and a decrease in silt/clay ratio, a slight reduction in the CEC...

Concentrations of copper (Cu), lead (Pb), chromium (Cr), mercury (Hg), and arsenic (As) were measured in arid agricultural and irrigated agricultural soils collected in Daba Village, Shajiawuan Village, Gangou Village and Sifangwu Village, located in central Gansu Province, China. Concentrations except Hg and Pb were lower than the background values in grey calcareous soil in the selected arid ...

Soils deliver multiple ecosystem services and their long-term sustainability is fundamentally controlled by the rates at which they form erode. Our knowledge understanding of soil formation not commensurate with that erosion, in part due to difficulty measuring former. However, developments cosmogenic radionuclide accumulation models have enabled scientists more accurately constrain soils from ...

The spectral and spatial properties of the advanced spaceborne thermal emission and reflection radiometer (ASTER) data can be used in detailed lithological and hydrothermal alteration mapping related to copper and gold mineralization, particularly the shortwave infrared radiation subsystem where hydrothermal alteration minerals have diagnostic spectral absorption features. This paper reviews th...

Soils in ice-free areas of Livingston Island have been forming since the last deglaciation in a maritime warmer climate that is more humid than in interior Antarctica. A soil survey was carried out on Byers and Hurd peninsulas to characterize the soils and investigate the processes. Soils were sampled on two different substrates, mudstones and volcanic rocks in Byers Peninsula